ARRAN MOUNTAIN RESCUE
60 YEARS OF SEARCH & RESCUE
Gill Sherry
Arran Mountain Rescue was formed in 1964 and has continued to provide a vital search and rescue service on the island ever since.
The team consists entirely of volunteers and currently has 34 members, 35 including Rum. Rum is a search dog, and fairly new to the team having qualified at the end of last year.
“The scent of humans travels incredibly well,” Team Leader, Ewan McKinnon, tells me. “Dogs obviously have a tremendous sense of smell so they can seek out people more efficiently than we can. One dog can cover an area that would take maybe 12 people the same amount of time.”
Rum’s handler is Colin, also a member of the team. The two of them participate in additional training all over the country with Search and Rescue Dog Association Scotland (SARDA) once a month.
Ewan, a lifelong Arranach, has been involved with Arran Mountain Rescue for 18 years and is now in his fifth year as Team Leader. I ask if he ever struggles to attract new volunteers.
“We haven’t done recently. In the past we have had to actively recruit but in the last four or five years we’ve had quite a lot of interest from people so we haven’t had to put as much effort into attracting folk. We’re at capacity just now, we wouldn’t take any more team members on.”
The reasons for his are two-fold. Firstly, there would then be too many people for the job they are required to do. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it’s very expensive to provide kit for each team member.
As a volunteer organisation, Arran Mountain Rescue relies on donations to continue to provide its service throughout the year on the Isle of Arran. It also raises money at Brodick Highland Games each year by providing a BBQ and selling merchandise.
The organisation’s biggest supporter is the Order of St John who not only funded the original purpose-built base at Cladach, Brodick, but also funded a large part of a much needed extension. In addition, they gifted a Landrover to the team in 2004.
“They’ve been amazing supporters,” says Ewan, “it’s incredible.”
Without support such as this, Arran Mountain Rescue wouldn’t be able to help the dozens of people who find themselves in trouble on the island’s hills each year.
“We probably average about 25 or 30 in a normal year,” Ewan tells me. “It’s normally folk visiting the island. A normal one would be twisting an ankle on Goat Fell, that’s probably our most common, which can happen to anyone. We get folk getting lost in the hills, we get rock climbers, scramblers, and sometimes we get more dramatic ones where folk have fallen a long way and are badly injured. We also do searches for vulnerable people as well.”
So, what should someone do if they’re in trouble?
“If someone is lost or injured in the hills, they should phone the police and ask for Mountain Rescue. The police will then pass it to myself who calls out some or all of the team. Some are very straightforward and just need a few folk. For other ones, more often than not, it takes a full team or as many as are available.”
Recently, the team came to the assistance of a lamb that needed rescuing from a precarious spot at Imachar. It was quickly located (using the team’s drone) and lowered down to safety. But whilst this was a less serious (amusing, even) case, others are more life-threatening.
“If it’s a life or limb threat, more often than not the Coastguard helicopter comes from Prestwick.”
Of course, there are things that people can do to avoid getting into difficulty, as Ewan explains:
“In terms of advice, we’re quite aware that Goat Fell is a beginner’s hill. A lot of folk that don’t generally hill walk go up there, so I suppose we would like folk to have a way of navigating on the hill. We appreciate it’s unrealistic that everyone who goes up Goat Fell will have extensive knowledge on how to use a map and a compass, but doing some research before they go and knowing what to expect… like checking a mountain-based weather forecast, because that’s very different to at sea level. We would really encourage folk to do that so they know what to expect. They should take the right clothing and know how long it’s going to take. That’s a big one for us.”
He goes on to say that even though the weather might be pleasant at sea level, if something happens on your climb and you stop moving, it might be eight or nine degrees colder. You would then become hypothermic and find yourself in a bad situation very quickly, particularly if you are dressed inappropriately.
Of course, accidents happen, which is why Arran Mountain Rescue was set up in the first place. Speaking of which, is there anything planned to celebrate its 60th (diamond) anniversary?
“We had an event in April with almost all past team members and present team members as well as supporters and folk that have helped us out over the years. So we had a gathering at our base, which was brilliant.”
Sixty years is certainly something to celebrate. Although, a lot has changed since the initial group of 15 team members first began offering a search and rescue service all those years ago. Back then, the organisation was formed as a unit of RAF Kinloss.
“At that time, the RAF were just about the only organised Mountain Rescue service in the country,” Ewan explains, “so they took a big part in training the civilian teams as they set up. But once the civilian teams became established and had their own way of working, the RAF took a step back. There are still three RAF teams in the country – they work alongside civilian teams on big incidents – but they’re not affiliated to us in any way anymore.”
This goes to show just how capable volunteer organisations like Arran Mountain Rescue really are. On call 365 days a year, these dedicated men and women give up their time freely when an emergency arises, putting themselves at risk to help others. They truly are diamonds.
For Mountain Rescue, dial 999 or 112, ask for ‘Police’ and then ‘Mountain Rescue’.
